March Update

(When I went to post a new update, I realized that I had never actually published this.... oops!)

We’re off to a good start!                                                                                                 MARCH 2013

We had a good break from school, and are one month into the new school year. Thanks to a few generous supporters, we were able to raise enough money to start our neighborhood school. We have 21 students in Kindergarten through 6^th grade who are all eager to learn, and we are excited to teach them. In Honduras, there is no system in place for children who have any sort of special educational needs, and if a student struggles and is unable to pass one class, they are held back for the entire grade. This system, coupled with class sizes of 50-80 students, makes learning very difficult for some students.

 

Most of the students in our school have been held back multiple times and feel very defeated. All of them come from troubled backgrounds and have been victims of abuse and neglect. We are hopeful that our school program will help the students gain self confidence and be able to reach their full potential. We are using the ACE program (Accelerated Christian Education), which allows each student to work at their own pace and spend more time on subjects where more time is needed. We are also teaching everything bilingually, with extensive classes in learning English as a second language so that each student will be able to learn English fluently. Our entire curriculum is Christian based, with character training incorporated into each class.

 

While the need for education is somewhat obvious, it is even more important in Honduras. If a girl is not able to stay in school, there is a lot of pressure to marry, even if the girl is very young or doesn’t feel ready to take this step. One of our students was telling us how happy and relieved she was to have the opportunity to attend school again because her family was pressuring her to find a husband, and at 13, she did not want to have to marry. Girls are also often victims of slavery, and staying in school can help them avoid this. Thank you to all of our supporters who are helping these kids have a better future!

 

We have had to scale back some of our other programs, but are still running most of the programs:

 

*Feeding  program for indigent elderly people – we are doing this one day a week for now with our school kids.  Some of the children are collecting food donations from neighbors, and the children are helping with the cooking and delivery of the food. We are also keeping track of anything that is needed, and the older kids will be helping with projects around the house as needed.

 

*Preschool program – All of the children who were in Natalie’s preschool program are now in Kindergarten with Aly three days a week.

 

*Tutoring – this is the first thing that we started, and kids come every day after school to get help with their homework and to use the internet for educational reasons. Gordon has taken over this ministry, and it has been good for the kids to have a positive male role model.

 

*English classes – Chantalle is teaching English in our school, and as soon as we receive the new curriculum for teens and adults, she will be teaching classes to our colegio students and adults in our community.

 

*Bible studies – we have an English Bible study for local ladies and a Bible study/craft time for children under 12. We also have a study for girls 12 and up, and we would like to add more studies soon. We are actively looking for a young man to help with the study for young men.

 

*Lunch program – We are serving lunch to all of the students who attend our school as well as 4 others who lack resources to have proper nutrition.

 

*Schooling – In addition to our school, we have 8 students in other schools who have sponsors in the USA who pay for their schooling. We ensure that each of them is working to their full potential and are doing their homework and school projects. Each student also receives a nutritional lunch every school day.

 

*Children’s Church – We are in charge of the Sunday children’s programs at our church. We have about 40 children, birth to 12 years old, who we teach lessons to, do crafts with, and love on.

 

*Worship team – Also at church, Natalie and Chantalle help lead worship for Friday and Sunday services. They have really enjoyed being able to serve in this way.

 

Prayer needs:

·         Sponsor (s) for lunch at school! We try to keep the cost low, but we are feeding 22 people in the school every day, and this is not in our budget. We would like to be able to have one or two people sponsor the cost of this ministry. We are able to keep this cost at around $150 per month ($7.50 per day). Please pray about the possibility of helping us in this way.

·         Sponsor for an assistant at school. We would really benefit from having a full time assistant at the school to help with cleaning, lunch preparation, Kindergarten, and odd jobs. Having a special needs school requires the full attention of each of us, and it is very difficult having to try to cover this need as well. The cost for hiring someone would be $100 per month.

·         Please pray for our school! This is a huge undertaking, and we need a lot of prayer both for our teachers (Aly, Natalie, Chantalle, Lisa, & Gordon) and for our students (Flor, Kellyn, Gaby, Eneyda, Fatima, Estefany, Katerin, Ruby, Cindy, Maria, Jefer, Aslin, Estefani, Jose, Danny, Deyni, Alex, Angel, Ashlyn, Nahomi, & Jadiel).

·         For more mission/work teams to come! There is A LOT of work to be done in this poverty stricken community, and teams can really change the lives of people here. Even if you don’t speak Spanish or have construction skills, if you are willing and able, we would love to have you! Contact us for more information.

·         We need an electrician!!! If you have the ability to help with re-wiring our house and the school, we could really use your help! The wiring is in very bad condition, and is not safe nor is it very functional and we really need someone or a small group to come help us get the electricity in working order. Please let us know if you could possibly come help in this way! There are very few trained electricians in this area, and those that are here are extremely expensive.

 

Thank you to everyone who supports us in our ministry! We could not do any of this without your help!

Love, The Eytzen family J                                     Email: jesushelovesme@hotmail.com

If you would like to contact us, our contact information is:

Lisa and Gordon Eytzen
c/o Roberto Diaz del Valle
9 KM. Carretera la Guama a Pena Blanca
Hotel Finca Las Glorias, Pena Blanca
Santa Cruz de Yojoa, Cortes
Honduras, Centro America

(it takes about 2-3 months to receive mail)

It’s not fair!                                                                                                                        

Anyone who has worked with kids (or adults, for that matter), has heard the cry, “It’s not fair!” repeatedly.  We hear that when we’re working with kids quite a bit, and it has sparked a lot of interesting conversations with the family. It is easy to start thinking that our situations aren’t “fair” and usually we spin things to favor ourselves – we aren’t getting enough or the quality of whatever we are receiving isn’t good enough. Rarely do we use the “unfair” cry when we feel we are getting too much or what we are receiving is more than we deserve, but isn’t that more often, the case?

Fatima’s House

Is it fair that I was born into a loving Christian family who wanted me and took care of me, took me on vacations, bought me everything I needed and most of the things I wanted?  Is it fair that Fatima was born to a mother who has repeatedly told her that she wished she had never been born, who never has taken care of her in any way? Is it fair that at six years old she was left alone with only her seven year old brother, to take care of herself? Which situation is more fair? Did I do anything that made me deserve the privileged life I was given? Did Fatima do anything to earn her station in life? In reality, we all probably “deserve” the life that a lot of the kids down here live.

Although we came here because we felt called by God, and we know that we are being used to help reach the people here and bring them hope, being here has also been an intensely life changing experience for each of us, and helped us view life in an entirely different way. I believe that I am no better than any of the people here and it is solely by the grace of God that I was given a much easier life. The people here have touched our lives and shown us new ways of thinking, and convicted us of many things that we have had to change in our personal lives. Sometimes the challenges seem almost more than we can handle, but sometimes the blessings just seem to overflow, and the road is easy.

A lot has been happening here in the past month! Gordon and Chantalle returned from their time in the states, and it has been great having them back. They were able to visit with a lot of family & friends and had a nice time traveling around. We dealt with a huge strep outbreak in our community, and had several sick children stay with us because they either had elderly people or babies in their home, or they didn’t have anyone to care for them. It was a draining time, but by serving the kids in this way, we have developed closer relationships with them and their families.

Our new mission house, just down the street

Tuesday night church, with up to 30 kids!

We have not moved into our new house, and things have been delayed due to lack of finances, but we are slowly getting things done. We don’t have to start paying rent there until March, so we are hoping to complete everything by then. Some of the kids’ dads have done a lot of tile work and repaired the walls, and most of the painting is done. We will be beginning the electrical rewiring soon, and that is one of the biggest projects. Jennifer, Chantalle, and I will be doing most of the work ourselves, and we have a couple of men who have volunteered to check our work and make sure that everything is done correctly.

We have done a lot of preparation for our new programs, and will be kicking off the new programs while our kids are out of school. Our “summer break” is from December until February. Here are the programs that we are working on:

*Feeding  program for indigent elderly people – we are starting with one day a week and hope to be able to do more days later. Some of the children are collecting food donations from neighbors, and the children are helping with the cooking and delivery of the food. We are also keeping track of anything that is needed, and the older kids will be helping with projects around the house as needed.

*Preschool program – Natalie is teaching some of the kids who are not yet in school, and they come every day to learn colors, numbers, shapes, and the basics of reading. They are learning a lot, and really look forward to class every day.

*Tutoring – this is the first thing that we started, and kids come every day after school to get help with their homework and to use the internet for educational reasons. Kids also enjoy having time to color and play with our toys.

*English classes – Chantalle is teaching English one on one to the kids who have shown the most aptitude and interest in learning, and they are also using Rosetta Stone to advance their learning.

*Bible studies – we have an English Bible study for local ladies and a Bible study/craft time for children under 12. We also have a study for girls 12 and up, and we would like to add more studies soon.

*Lunch program – some of the kids who don’t get adequate nutrition at home can come and get lunch every day.

*Baking program – Jennifer is working with some of the older girls in a program where the girls bake cupcakes, brownies, and cookies, and the girls go out and sell their baked goods to bring more income to their families. The girls are all very excited about this, and it will be great for them to have skills to bring more money into their families.

*Bead making – We are working with several of the kids at making jewelry that we can sell when we are in the states, so that they will have skills to help with their family income.

*Schooling – We have found sponsors to help send several kids to school, and we make sure that all of the sponsored kids are doing well in their classes and taking their studies seriously. We feel that education is very important, and encourage the kids and their families to stay in school, study hard, and think about their futures.

*Children’s Church – In addition to the programs in our community, we are in charge of the Sunday children’s programs at our church. We have about 40 children, birth to 12 years old, who we teach lessons to, do crafts with, and love on.

*Worship team – Also at church, Natalie and Chantalle help lead worship for Friday and Sunday services. They have really enjoyed being able to serve in this way.

Prayer needs:

*Please continue to pray for our kids. Franklin, Kevin, and Daniel are still struggling, but we have made some headway with Franklin recently, so we are encouraged by that.

* We are only lacking one sponsor right now, and that is for Cecilia, whose father died recently, and her family does not have a lot of money to send her to school.

*We are praying about starting a very small private school. This idea came about because there are a few kids who are extremely far behind in their education, and will not be able to complete even elementary school without intervention. There are about 6 kids who we are considering schooling. There are two girls, who are 12 and 13 and both just in first grade, and another 13 year old who is in fourth grade, as well as some students who are struggling in the Honduran system of education, where there are often 60 children in a small classroom with one teacher. It is a big commitment, and we want to make sure that the children as well as we are able to fully commit before we decide to do this. We are looking for sponsors to help pay for the cost of the materials & the fee that the government charges for starting this kind of a program (very much like home-schooling). We are hoping to start with 3 families, and see where things go from there.

*Monthly sponsors – Every month it is extremely hard to make ends meet, and we are dependent on people from the states sending in support. We have a few people who have been very faithful supporters, but we need more people to join with us.

*Money for our new home – Please pray about helping us get our new home finished. We still have a lot of work to do, and have volunteers available, but are just lacking the funds!

*Mission teams – we would really like to have multiple mission teams come here to see what we do and to help us accomplish some bigger goals. If you are at all interested in this, please contact us!

If you are looking for a Christmas gift for someone, consider sponsoring a child in their name. We try to have the students write letters to their sponsors regularly, and this is one gift that won’t be forgotten! Contact us for more information!

Thank you to everyone who supports us in our ministry! We hope that you are able to enjoy the Christmas season!

Love, The Eytzen family J

If you would like to contact us, our contact information is:

Lisa and Gordon Eytzen
c/o Roberto Diaz del Valle
9 KM. Carretera la Guama a Pena Blanca
Hotel Finca Las Glorias, Pena Blanca
Santa Cruz de Yojoa, Cortes
Honduras, Centro America

(it takes about 2 months to receive mail)                      Email: jesushelovesme@hotmail.com

Please take a few minutes to read about some of the children we would like to help!

Student Profiles:

Fatima Gisele

Fatima Gisele – Fatima is a lively 13 year old girl who has had a rough life from the beginning. Her mother tried unsuccessfully to end her pregnancy with Fatima, and she has been repeatedly told that it would have been better for her not to have been born. She has been passed from relative to relative, and lived with only her brother for almost two years when she was 6-8 years old. Her rough life has made her into a very determined young lady, and she wants to be able to complete school and have a better future. While she was on her own she wasn’t able to attend school, so she is currently only in the fifth grade. We would like to be able to enroll Fatima in our private school so that she can receive the one on one instruction that she needs to catch up.

Esly Eneyda –  Eneyda is a very spunky 11 year old girl who is one of 12 children, and doesn’t get a lot of attention. She is extremely small for her age, even in Honduras, and is the size of an average 5 or 6 year old. Because of her size and a learning  disability, Eneyda is often teased in school, and punished by her teachers when she doesn’t understand. She is very bright, and has shown a real gift in speaking English, and we are excited to see what can happen for her when she is given the attention she needs to learn.

Gisele Kellin –  Kellin is very sweet and quiet, and is Eneyda’s older sister. After their father lost his hand in an accident last year, she has had to mature and help more at home with all of the children. She is a good student, and enjoys learning. She often gets sad and has trouble opening up to others. We are hoping that she will get a sponsor to enable her to have the smaller class size that she needs to fully reach her potential.

Danis – Danis is one of the youngest in Kellin and Eneyda’s family, and he is not off to a very good start in school. He was not allowed to attend Kindergarten or first grade because of his test results, and he shows signs of a learning disability, but responds well to one on one instruction.  For Danis, the only hope he has of academic success will come from private schooling, and we are hoping to be able to provide that for him.

Jefer – Jefer is a small, sweet boy who has moved around within his family throughout his short 8 years. He struggles in school, and is facing his third time going through first grade, unless he is able to be homeschooled or attend private school. He is a bright boy who enjoys learning, but has some areas that he struggles with. In the Honduran system, if a child fails one class, they have to repeat the entire grade, which has really held Jefer back.

There are three other students who we are praying about at this time, and if we receive sponsors for these, we will pursue finding sponsors for Deinis, Cindy, and Estefani.

The cost for each student is $30/month or $360 for a year, and includes meals, clothing, and all educational costs.

We are way overdue with an update! Sometimes it feels like time just flies by with everything we are involved with, and this has been a really busy year for us!  So much has happened here, but I will give a brief overview.

We have been blessed to have some wonderful friends & relatives come for visits. Kaileen came for 3 months to visit from March through June, and she was able to help us with a lot of things. We were able to do a lot of fun things with her, and she gave us some fresh insight that was helpful. In June, Jennifer came, and stayed until August, when we went back to the States for a visit. She returned with us in September, and will be with us at least until December. She has been a huge help to us, and lifts our spirits when we are feeling discouraged. In July, Meghan and Kelly came for a week, and it was so wonderful having them here! We were able to go to the BMDI (Baptist Medical & Dental Mission) near Teguchigalpa and see what they are doing on the other side of the country as well as see some old friends from Nebraska.

In Tapachula, Mexico

Kelly with Estefani, Eneyda, & Kellin

We had to leave the country for our 90 days in April, and when we got to the border of El Salvador, the guard told us that we needed to leave the region, and he took our visas out of our passports and told us we needed to get on a bus to either Mexico or Costa Rica. We opted for Mexico, and spent an exhausting 42 hours on busses, but ended up having a nice time while we were there, and it was an interesting experience for us. A week after returning home, all of the ladies were able to go to Teguchigalpa to a Women of Purpose Ladies retreat. A group of people come from the states twice a year to put on a conference/retreat for missionary women, and it was a great time of fellowship & renewal for each of us. We can’t wait to go to the next one in November!

In August, we had the opportunity to visit the states. Since our ministry has grown so much, we didn’t feel that we could leave all at once, so we took turns. Natalie, Alye, Lisa, and Jenn, left mid August and were able to visit friends and family in Colorado, Memphis, Indiana, Nebraska, & Florida. It was really nice being able to visit a lot of our loved ones, and to restock some of our supplies. Some of our friends sent clothes & shoes & school supplies back with us, and that was really nice.

At a Colorado Rockies Baseball game (in the rain)

Gordon and Chantalle went to the states the same day that we left, and will be returning in late October. They have been able to travel to most of the same places where the rest of us did, and have had a great time there. It has been hard being apart for so long, and we’re all really excited to be all together again soon.

We found out that we will have to leave our home. At first we were very discouraged, as we thought we would be able to live here for a long time, and there aren’t very many houses available for rent; especially large enough for all of us and our ministry. We drove around with our cousin Chris, and saw a lot of possibilities, but nothing super close to where we are now. A few days ago, our landlord painted a big sign outside stating that our house was up for sale, and we had A LOT of neighbors come by who were very concerned about us leaving the neighborhood. We minister to a lot of families and small children who wouldn’t be able to go very far to us. Anyways, one of our neighbors brought us the keys to his son’s house that is vacant, and although the house is in very rough condition, it has the space we need and is right on the same street where we live, so we could continue our ministry with the people we know God has called us to help. We are excited to get to work on fixing the house up to livable condition, and a lot of people have already volunteered to do all of the labor for free, so we just have to pay for supplies. We started work this week, and it has been encouraging to see so many people show up to help us with the work! We are hoping to move the beginning of November, and are hoping that we are able to raise the funds necessary to put in the plumbing, electrical, and kitchen so that we can live in the house.

Our community center & youth programs have really grown, and it is exciting to see new children coming around. We are now averaging about 20 kids every week, and the older kids are learning to lead the younger ones. We have the older kids help with the younger kids’ mid-week class, and they are getting really good at it. The kids go around our neighborhood collecting various fruits and vegetables for Aly to make food that we serve to everyone, and it is nice seeing everyone getting involved.

 Kids Night

We have resumed our Ladies Bible Study for English speakers, and we all really enjoy that every week.  It is really nice being able to spend some time speaking and learning in English! We are getting ready to start a new study with teen girls, and are hoping to get one started for the teen boys. We would like to start a Ladies Bible Study  for the women in our neighborhood as soon as we are confident enough in our Spanish.

We are hoping to start a couple of new programs after we are settled into our new home. We would like to start a baking co-op and involve the teen girls. We will teach them how to make various baked goods and candies, and they can sell them during soccer games to earn some money for their families.  The girls are all really eager to start, and it should be fun. The children also had the idea of starting a sort of “Meals-on-Wheels” for the elderly people in our community. There are several elderly people who have trouble getting healthy meals, and don’t have family to take care of them. We would like to have the children prepare simple meals to bring to them each day during the week. It has been exciting to see our neighbors pull together to help one another.

It has been really exciting to see a lot of the kids growing and learning new skills and how to be respectful and helpful, and seen a lot of positive changes in them. We have also had the relationships with our neighbors grow and develop, and it is great seeing such a huge change in only a year. A lot of the kids want to make wise choices, and we are seeing more kids excited about going to church and learning about God.
 

Thank you so much for your continued support. It would be impossible to reach these people without your help.

Love,

Gordon, Lisa, Aly, Natalie, Chantalle, & Jennifer

Prayer Needs:

*Please pray for the kids who are currently being sponsored to be in school: Jessica, Darwin, Efren, Byron, Fatima, & Carla are all doing well in school and thriving.

Carla is in first grade

Jessica recently celebrated her quincinera

Darwin is in his first year of colegio & is a really hard worker

Fatima has turned her grades around, and is doing well in 4th grade

 

*Please pray for the kids who are hoping for sponsors for next year: Cecilia, Jennifer, and Josie are still waiting to be sponsored, and will be finishing sixth grade in November.

Cecilia - the oldest child in her home. Her father recently died,

 leaving her mom struggling to provide for the family.

Jennifer (above) and Josie (below) are sisters who live with their mother and several siblings in a one room house. They will both be completing 6th grade in November and are hoping to attend colegio.

*Please pray for our kids who are struggling:

Franklin has had a lot of trouble making the right choices, and if he doesn’t start making better choices, it will seriously jeopardize his future. We have worked closely with him in the past, and he is going through a really rough time. He comes from a pretty rough family, with no father, and a mother who has a lot of health issues, and is working to provide for her 8 children.

Franklin

Kevin was one of the neighborhood bullies when we moved in, and we were all afraid of him. He would drive by and throw rocks and yell profanities at us. After reaching out to him several times, he has softened, and is no longer mean to us. He still doesn’t want to go to church or Bible studies, but he would kind of like to go to colegio.

Daniel will be graduating from elementary school soon, and he doesn’t have very much ambition. He comes from a very abusive home, and he has stolen from us, but he is also struggling between knowing what is right, and the pull of doing the wrong thing. His sister, Kimberly, has been out of school for 2 years, but would like the opportunity to attend colegio now. We are giving her some work to do to see if she can be committed to school.

Daniel

*Please pray for us to have the funds and energy to get our new house ready to live in. A lot of people where we live have offered to help with the work, and we just need to raise the funds to purchase supplies. If we can raise about $5000 we will be able to put in electrical, plumbing, paint, and make the house secure. The location is great, and it has a lot of outdoor living space, which is very nice. Most people around us don’t live with electricity as we know it, and they don’t have inside bathrooms, which are things that we would really like to have.

*Please pray for our health, as we seem to have more than our share of health issues. Currently Jenn and Lisa are fighting pneumonia, and Aly has had a stomach bug for a couple of weeks. We are looking forward to a healthy fall!

If you would like to contact us, our contact information is:

Lisa and Gordon Eytzen
c/o Roberto Diaz del Valle
9 KM. Carretera la Guama a Pena Blanca
Hotel Finca Las Glorias, Pena Blanca
Santa Cruz de Yojoa, Cortes
Honduras, Centro America

(it takes about 2 months to receive mail)              Email: jesushelovesme@hotmail.com

Living in the “Real World”

Everyone in our family has had people tell them that living in the United States is preferable to living here in Honduras because we are not living “in the real world”, and that we won’t have a “normal” life here. Aside from the obvious, that it is most important to follow where God leads regardless of where that is, these comments brought about a lot of interesting discussions in our home. We decided to research a little bit about what the “real world” is and what “normal” really looks like.

According to the US Census Bureau, the United States only makes up 4.5% of the World’s population. In the United States, 85% of the population over the age of 25 has a High School degree, the median income is $51,914, and only 13.8% of the population lives below the poverty level ($22,350/yr for a family of 4). However, over 80% of the people in the world live on less than $10 a day ($3600/yr) and over 50% of humanity live on less than $2.50 a day ($900/yr). The poverty level in the United States is based on relative poverty, which is solely based on how income relates to the median income and may not actually equate to any lack. With all of the social systems in place in the United States, few people there really know what it is like to know true poverty… not having adequate shelter, adequate food, clean water, access to health services,  or access to an education.

Out of the 2.2 billion children in the world, 1 billion of them live in poverty.  640 million children are living without adequate shelter (1 in 3), 500 million are estimated to be underweight or have stunted growth (1 in 4), 400 million have no access to safe water (1 in 5), 270 million have no access to health services (1 in 7), and 121 million school aged children are not receiving any education (1 in 17). According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they quietly die in the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life only makes these dying children even more invisible in death.

Living in Honduras these past 9 months has opened our eyes to a lot of things. For the first time in any of our lives, we are actually living in the “real world”, and we wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. It is easy to live in America and think that that lifestyle is “normal”, but it is far from that. Having the opportunity to live as most of the world lives has taught us to be extremely thankful for the blessing of being born in America, and we are appreciative of the seemingly small things that we previously took completely for granted. It feels great knowing that, for now, we are exactly where we are supposed to be, doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing.

As we mentioned in our previous update, our ministry focus has slightly shifted as we have realized where the greatest need lies. Our main focus right now is working with school aged children and their families in our community of Los Naranjos and helping support them in education. In addition to finding sponsors to help keep students in school, we offer daily tutoring, internet access, hygiene education, and a safe place for students to spend time. We are also doing Bible studies for younger children and teens, and are getting ready to start a study for women with a possible craft time. We are excited to see God working here, and have seen a lot of positive changes in our community.

Life in our home has been busy and exciting, and we are enjoying having Kaileen here helping out. Douglas is growing as a Christian and his English gets better every week. Our neighbors had to move suddenly and left their Deer Chihuahua behind, so we have made her a part of our family. Princess and Conan get along well, and it has been fun having a “lap dog” around.

 Princess (before we started feeding her; she is a lot less bony now)

Updates:

*Our homework time is going strong! We regularly have about 12 students come for tutoring and homework, and we are seeing some great improvement with the kids.  

*We have been doing a Bible study for kids under the age of 12 and a separate one for kids over the age of twelve. We have had some great discussions, and we have about 20 kids coming to our studies. Douglas helps with the translation for the studies, and it has helped him grow as well.

*We are hoping to send 5 additional students (Kevin, Daniel, Franklin, Jennifer, and Josie) to colegio for the next term, and are really excited to be able to offer this opportunity to them. We are praying about moving most of the students to a private Christian school that would offer a stronger education and also provide Biblical instruction.

*Alyssa is teaching Fourth Grade at the local bilingual school for the remainder of the school year (8 weeks). Please pray for strength as this is her first time teaching, and she is the only 4^th grade teacher. She is praying about continuing to teach next year.

If you would like to come visit us and see firsthand what we are doing here, we would love to have you or your group! Please let us know dates, and we will let you know what dates work for us.

 Kids working on a craft project during our kids' night

Ways that you can support us:

·         General support – This money is used for our living expenses and to fund our after school program, in which we offer tutoring, internet access, and a small meal or snack to each child who attends.

·         Sponsor a Child – If you would like to help a child attend school, you can donate money for a specific child to attend school. We will have them write to you regularly and we will send you a picture of them so that you can pray for them.

o   Private School – The cost of this program is $75/month and includes: Biblical education,

school tuition, school uniforms, books, school supplies, transportation, and one healthy meal per day

o   Public School – The cost of this program is $20/month and includes: school tuition, school uniforms, books, school supplies, transportation, and one healthy meal per day

o   Elementary school – The cost to keep an elementary school child in school is only $10/month, and includes: school tuition, school uniform, books, school supplies, and one healthy meal per day.

We provide tutoring and assistance with homework for each child, English language lessons, and also provide age appropriate Bible studies and lots of love for each child. We have relationships with each family, and keep track of grades to make sure that the students are serious about their education and are each working to their full potential.

It is very difficult for most of the people in our area to attend school because families are very poor and often want to send the children to work picking coffee and vegetables. The families who want to send their children to school are usually unable to come up with the money needed to send their kids even to public school, since there is a cost for uniforms, books, and school supplies, and many of them make minimal wages. We are educating families about how beneficial it is for them to continue in their education so that they can have a better future for themselves and future generations.

If you would like to help support us financially or send a specific child to school, you can donate online at: http://www.shepsstaff.org/eytzen.aspx or by mail:

Shepherd's Staff Mission Facilitators
PO Box 53640
Albuquerque, NM 87153-3640     Be sure to note EYTZEN # 4182 on your check.

Please email us and specify what age of child you would like to sponsor.

You can also make personal donations via paypal through our paypal address: jesushelovesme@hotmail.com

Finding our Groove

We enjoyed a nice little break in the United States, and it was such a blessing to spend time with our parents, families, and friends. We came back to Honduras refreshed and ready to serve God and the Honduran people. Since we first arrived, we have really been praying that God would show us how He wanted us to serve here, and over time, our mission has become more and more clear to us, which is really exciting!


One thing that is really lacking here is adequate education. A lot of people only go to school until about 3rd grade, some only attend to 6th grade, and few complete colegio, which is sort of like a combination of junior high, high school, and trade school. Without an education, it is nearly impossible to climb out of the poverty that most of the people around us live in. Many of our neighbors pick coffee for a living, and for a full day’s work, they are fortunate if they can earn $3.50. For this reason, a lot of people have even their young children working to try to make enough money to survive.

We decided to help as many students as possible attend school, as well as providing a good environment to do their homework, and tutoring when necessary. Often times, the kids have homework that involves the internet, but they have no way to access the internet, so we allow them to use our computers. We are also switching from group instruction in English to private lessons with those students who have shown an interest in learning and proven that they are committed to studying. We were able to save enough money to purchase the homeschool version of Rosetta Stone English, and will start using this program to teach 10 students as soon as we are able to purchase a desktop computer.

The school year started about a week after we arrived back in Honduras, which made for a very busy return! This year we were able to help 4 students attend elementary school and 5 students attend colegio – 3 of them for the first time. Their needs ranged from help purchasing backpacks and uniforms to purchasing school supplies, to assistance with transportation needs to and from school to school tuition. All of the students in colegio are the first people in their families to have the opportunity to attend colegio, so it is really exciting for them. We are hoping to be able to help even more kids next year.

We will continue to help one day a week with Sister Maria’s day program for preschool children, as well as continuing in our ministry at our church. Eulogio and Leah Crespin, fellow missionaries who have been highly instrumental in the running of our church, are leaving Honduras to follow God into the next chapter of their lives, and will leave two very big gaps, that we will do our best to help fill. We will be helping more with the youth, which should be interesting.

We have some fun changes in our home as well. Our oldest daughter, Alyssandra, came for a 3 week visit, and has felt God calling her to stay, so she is here indefinitely. After a lot of prayer, we also invited a young man from our church who was living in the local orphanage, to join our family. His name is Douglas, and he has been a huge help with the tutoring of the neighborhood kids. In a few weeks, our friend Kaileen will be joining us for awhile to help out. She is really gifted with singing and playing the guitar, and we’re excited to see how God will use her here.

Answers to Prayer:

*One huge answer to prayer is that our relations with our neighbors have been going really well. There was one family in particular who had some negative feelings towards us, and after following God’s leading in how to respond towards them, the relationship has been mended, which is amazing. While we were gone, our neighbors looked out for our home, and they have helped catch Conan when he has snuck out. We are very thankful to have several neighbors who look out for us and help us when we need it. We are also thankful that we have made friends with some fellow missionaries who are here from Georgia. They are living about a half hour away from us and are involved in a similar ministry with helping kids in their area obtain an education. They have been a tremendous encouragement to our family.

*We were able to find sponsors to send Jessica, Efren, and Darwin to school this year. Thank you!

*We had a fun and safe trip back to the USA, and our family issues have been resolved for the most part.

*The “hotelito” which opened next door did not work out, and he decided instead to turn the place into apartments. Still not ideal, but much better than a hotelito or motel! For the time being, it looks like we will be able to stay in our home!

Prayer Requests:

*Please continue to pray for both Gordon and Lisa’s medical needs. Gordon’s nerve damage has progressed quite a bit, and it has become more difficult for him to get around. He is handling it very well, but we are praying that the damage will stop progressing. Lisa has been dealing with a bad flare up of her lupus, and has had a lot of fatigue and joint pain. We figured out that by adopting a gluten free diet, her symptoms have gotten a lot better, but it is a big adjustment.

*Pray for stamina as we assist multiple students with their homework and provide tutoring.

Thank you to everyone who has joined us in our ministry here. It is so exciting to see tangible ways that God is working. We are very thankful that God has allowed us to live here in this beautiful country, but we could not do what we do without the support of people in the states. As always, if anyone is interested in visiting us here, we would be glad to have you.

If you would like to receive monthly updates, you can email us at: jesushelovesme@hotmail.com , or if you would like to receive updates by mail, call Elia Parkin at 402-658-3542.

If you would like to help support us financially, you can donate online at: http://www.shepsstaff.org/eytzen.aspx or by mail:

Shepherd's Staff Mission Facilitators

PO Box 53640

Albuquerque, NM 87153-3640 Be sure to note EYTZEN # 4182 on your check.